It's Been A Long, Winding Road
by Starlit Purple
Summary: The brothers acknowledge the end of a journey while beginning anew. -Set directly after Promised Day.


A/N: Written for Bay for fandom_stocking over on Dreamwidth.

It's Been A Long, Winding Road

The first time he awoke, his brother was right there at his side talking to him softly. Alphonse assumed he was probably catching him up on what he'd missed, but he was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. His brother's words washed over him in a comforting tide and he let them lull him back to sleep.

The next time he opened his eyes the room was dark. Movement on his right caught his eye and a voice near the door whispered, "Sorry Mr. Elric, I didn't mean to wake you. I'll be back to check on you both later." Light momentarily flooded the room as the nurse left and Al realized she must have just flipped the lights off when he woke up.

Edward was curled up in the other bed, sleeping soundly. The moonlight coming in the window lit up his hair, currently splayed over the pillow behind him. His arm, the one he'd sacrificed for Al all those years ago, was curled over the hospital sheets. It was considerably smaller, much like Al's own arms, but it was whole and it was real and it was Ed's.

Al smiled, enjoying the feeling as the muscles in his face tugged at his features. Ed had always put his brother's well-being before his own. He had never been concerned about getting his limbs back and always focused on getting Al's body back from the gate. Al knew that he had carried the weight of their burden and felt he deserved the automail limbs, and despite the circumstances and all the uncertainty that came with his risk, he was glad that he could at least give him something back.

As he lay in the darkness all the new sensations were making themselves known. The warmth of the blankets tucked around him; the ever constant pinch in the crook of his left arm where the IV line bit into his skin; the expansion of his chest when he pulled in each breath of air. Blinking was even weird now. There was so much you could miss in the blink of an eye!

Rolling onto his side was a chore in and of itself, but he managed it. He must have made some kind of noise; Ed took a deep breath—that one that he did when he was nearing consciousness, and a moment later Al could see tiny specs of the moon's light reflecting in his eyes. He yawned and shifted, pausing mid-stretch when his eyes caught on Al's.

"You okay, Al?" His voice had that scratchy quality it always had when Ed crashed hard, and for a moment he wondered how long his brother had been asleep.

Ed was frowning at him now, pushing himself up on an elbow.

"I'm fine, brother," Al responded belatedly. "You don't need to get up."

Ed slid off the bed and crossed the room anyway. Al hadn't noticed he'd grabbed anything until there was a cup hovering over his chest and an arm sliding around his shoulders. He reached up and took the cup with both hands since he didn't trust his strength yet and tipped it to his lips.

"Sips, remember," Ed told him and steadied the glass when Al misjudged the weight of it and took a gulp full.

And this is what he was going to have to get used to, relearning everything and depending on others to help him. It was frustrating, especially now when he just wanted everything to be as easy as it had been before.

Something must have shown in his eyes; Ed was giving him that sad little smile. "You remember when you and Winry had to do this for me?"

Al chuckled as he thought back. "Granny did have some big cups then."

Ed nodded enthusiastically. "They were hard to hold one-handed!"

"Our hands were smaller then too," he added, looking at his own hands on the glass. He frowned and wondered momentarily if his thin bony hands were around the same size as his healthy child hands had been.

He'd felt Ed stiffen at the long time trigger word, but he just smiled and said, "Yeah."

There was a pause and Al could tell his brother was seeing something far away as his eyes sparkled and an entirely different smile took reign over his entire face. "Hard to think about how far we've come, but...we did it Al."

Al beamed right back. "We did."

It wasn't time to celebrate for the rest of the country yet. All the losses taken the day before, it would take a while to get the country restored. But taking a moment to appreciate that he and his brother had finally achieved what they set out to do? Yeah, he could do that.


End file.
